Reconstruction
by Aviantei
Summary: It's hard when things are broken. It's even harder when they're destroyed beyond recognition. The only thing we can do is carry on and pick up the pieces, trying to rebuild what has been lost. While the result will never be the same, it's only by trying that we can see what we can make in its place. A theoretical continuation of the anime. OCs.
1. Chapter One: Remains

**Reconstruction**

By: Aviantei

Chapter One

Remains

* * *

"Oh, so you wanna talk to HOMRA first?"

The young woman nodded, looking up at her guide. The man paused in consideration, muttering something akin to directions under his breath. Sitting beside her on the bench, a girl in her mid-teens sighed in irritation.

"Damn straight," she said, pulling the cigarette hanging from her lips out of her mouth as she spoke. "They were our first lead anyway, so it's only natural we start with them. Right, Nee-san?" The older of the two females nodded again. The lengths of chestnut locks bounced slightly as she did so. "Don't they have some bar or something as their hideout?"

"That's right, Hitomi-san," the guide agreed. "Though I don't think it would be good for your reputation if you went into a place like that at your age."

Hitomi scoffed, standing up. Her middle finger was purposefully chosen to point at the piercings embedded in her nose. "Listen, shit for brains, does it _really_ look like I give a damn about my reputation?" The statement could have turned into a full-blown rant if it weren't for the light impact that had made contact with the back of Hitomi's head.

The chestnut haired woman had stood up. In her hands was a small cat plush with plastic eyes almost too big for its head. A paw was extended from where it had hit Hitomi, and the woman shook her head. Hitomi sighed before leaning down at the minimum angle to be considered a bow.

"Please take us there, Urumana-san," she said. The words were forced, but they sounded polite enough. Beside Hitomi, the other woman bowed as well. Their guide, Urumana, looked at the mismatched pair before giving a short laugh.

"I should have known you two wouldn't care about such things," he commented. "I mean, when you came to me about your request, I knew you two weren't normal." Hitomi almost retorted to the unintentional insult, but her sister's presence beside her stalled the action. "Yeah, HOMRA has a bar as their base. The group's second in—oh, I guess he's in charge now. Anyway, their leader runs the place, so if you've got questions to ask, it probably is the best place to start."

Hitomi frowned as her sister gave a small smile. "If we ask questions will we even get any answers?" she asked. "Last I checked street gangs don't like spilling their secrets."

Urumana laughed again, this time only a chuckle. "Trust me, I think if you're honest about your intentions, he'll open right up," he assured. "Although I think maybe having you there might end in a fight, Hitomi-san. With your attitude and all. I could offer to go in and speak for you'd like."

Hitomi felt the insult surge out of her throat, but stopped it when her sister stood in between her and their guide. The older female's expression was serious from her profile as she gave an almost fierce shake of her head. Urumana looked surprised, and Hitomi's own expression softened. "You wanna go do it, Nee-san?"

A nod of the head, no less determined than the movement that came before.

* * *

Kusanagi Izumo was often considered by the rest of HOMRA to be the second-in-command, the father figure of sorts. And in comparison to the aloof attitude held by their king, it was an accurate description at times. He cared for all the members of HOMRA, gave them orders in their king's absence or steed, and allowed his precious bar to be used for their hideout, the bar that had given their group its name.

So it had only been the logical decision that he would be the one to take over after Suoh Mikoto's death.

He still wasn't used to it. Izumo hadn't expected to do anything of the sort. But most of HOMRA had flocked back to the bar after that night, and still swung by out of habit. It had been Yata-chan who had offhandedly asked the bartender what HOMRA would be doing next, and everyone seemed to treat him as leader after that. Not King, but still a position of power nonetheless.

Izumo had accepted, mainly because HOMRA still needed someone to hold it together. Most of the members had nowhere else to go. It was a real foster home for wayward street punks and the like. But even three weeks wasn't enough to make him be certain that this was alright.

HOMRA never had a plan. Mikoto had never intended to start it, so it never really had a goal. If anything, it was an organization that simply floated along on the whims of its King. And even Izumo, who seemed to be the closest to Mikoto, never truly knew what the King was thinking.

Thus it was impossible to take his place. Not that anyone truly expected him to. But Izumo most certainly had a hard time telling his boys that there wasn't anything they immediately needed to take action on. HOMRA lacked its true leader and still lacked a plan, making leading it an almost impossible task.

But the hardest part was taking care of Anna.

The young girl had been hit by Mikoto's death the hardest out of all of them. Izumo didn't blame her, considering how attached to the hip she was to the king all the time. Especially since Mikoto had saved her. The girl was staying in the bar like always, but she had turned almost despondent after the red lights that had once been their bond together disappeared amongst that night's air.

It hurt Izumo to see the girl like that. But there wasn't anything he could really do to fix the problem. At least she still ate whenever meals were put out in front of her.

The bar's doors opened, and the jingle of the bell made Izumo look up from his train of thought. A young woman walked in, her long chestnut hair almost reaching past her mid-calf length skirt. A minimal amount of lace adorned the edges of her clothing, except for a vest that fit tightly over her chest. She gave a short bow before sitting down at the bar. Up close, the few beads hooked into small strands of hair seemed miscolored in the dim light.

"Welcome, _Mademoiselle_," Izumo greeted, quickly slipping into his polite demeanor. "What can I get you today?"

She paused for a moment, then tapped her fingers against her throat before shaking her head with a sad smile. Izumo almost started—_Mute?_—before reaching under the bar for a menu. The woman then made a few shapes with her hands in the air.

"Sorry, I'm afraid I don't understand sign language," he apologized. The woman gave a short nod of understanding before placing a phone on the counter. Her thin hands picked up the menu as an all too familiar image was displayed on the screen.

"Are you here about the bounty?" Izumo warily asked. He contained a relieved sigh as the woman shook her head. "But you are here about the person in this video." This time she nodded, pointing at something on the menu at the same time. Izumo took the time of preparation to contemplate the situation.

"Do you happen to know where he is?"

A shake of the head in the negative.

"But you're looking for him?"

A nod.

"Does that mean you know him personally?"

The woman paused to think of how to answer. She frowned slightly, eyebrows furrowing. She raised a hand parallel to the bar and shook it side to side. _Yes and no._

Izumo didn't know how to take that answer so he let it slide. "I hate to tell you but we don't know where he is, either," he admitted. That was another hard part. They had gone through all that trouble, their king was dead, and no one could say for certain that they had even dealt with the target they had been hunting all that time.

Totsuka's murderer.

The woman seemed disappointed for a moment, before she looked up to him with wide hazel eyes. She started to sign for a second before remembering his lack of understanding. She instead reached for her phone—probably to type out the message—but Izumo put the drink she had ordered in her way. He didn't need to see confirmation to know what she wanted to ask.

_Will you help me?_

Izumo didn't know the answer to that. After all, looking for this boy before had resulted in the death of their King. But at the same time, HOMRA needed something to do, they needed answers. If helping this girl in a non-antagonistic search could solve both of those problems, it was probably a good idea right? And if not, HOMRA could always pull out of the deal.

"If you're only interested in finding him, I think we can help," Izumo answered. The woman gave him a questioning look from behind her upturned glass. "We were looking for this boy anyway, so it helps us, too. And if you happen to be the one that finds him, we'll even give you the bounty." That would be a tall order to fill, but Izumo would be willing to cross that bridge at a much later date.

The woman shook her head again, then gave a small bow of thanks. She tapped at her phone and tilted her head. "My contact information?" he asked. The phone was offered to him, the new contact screen at the ready. He took it in his hands, trading off a napkin and pen. "My name is Kusanagi Izumo. If you want to leave your name and number I can spread it around so HOMRA can contact you if necessary."

The two fulfilled their necessary tasks, and Izumo took a crack at reading the kanji that was handed to him. "'Hayatama Eri'? Is it alright if I call you Eri-chan?" He was met with a nod and the slightest of smiles forming at the corners of her mouth. "Well then let's work hard together, Eri-chan," Izumo said, offering his hand. "Would you mind letting me know as much as you can about this boy?"

Eri's hand reached back for the pen, before her phone sounded a ringtone. The woman read the text on the screen, lips pursing together.

"Something come up?" Izumo asked. Eri quickly stood up and bowed a short apology. "No, it's fine. You can send me a message later or drop by some other time. For a nice young lady like yourself to be so worked up, I can only guess it's important."

Eri gave Izumo a smile that seemed to be laughing at him, but he couldn't say for sure before she turned around. However, the woman stopped quickly, as if she was avoiding something. Izumo leaned to the side to see if there was something in the way.

"Anna?"

The little girl was staring up at Eri, looking the most alive she had in the past few weeks. Others might of missed it, but Izumo could see the spark of interest in the little albino girl's eyes. The angle prevented him from seeing Eri's expression, but he was certain she had moved one thin finger up to her lips in a _hush_ motion.

"Come on, Anna, don't be rude. Eri-chan has somewhere she needs to go," Izumo chided. Almost reluctantly Anna stepped to the side. Eri disappeared soon after, the coat tails of her vest fluttering as she walked away. Izumo frowned slightly.

"What is it Anna-chan? Did you see something?" he asked. The little girl turned her eyes back to him, reverting back to the same blank expression she always had.

"No. I saw nothing."

* * *

Hayatama Eri's exit from the HOMRA bar was something that could be described as graceful yet ungraceful at the same time. Her movements were smooth enough, but something in her expression marred the otherwise tranquility of the moment. Only sparing a glance to check the traffic, she crossed the street to where Hitomi was waiting for her. With only faint traces of anger in her expression, Eri reclaimed the cat plush that was being offered to her.

"Did you learn anything, Nee-san?" Hitomi asked. Eri opened her mouth and let out a sigh that was only a breath of air.

"In terms of location, they're just as clueless as we are." The voice speaking was female, but Eri's lips didn't move. Instead, the words were emanating from the toy being lightly clenched in her hands. "But they want answers, too. They agreed to help, but I didn't get the chance to share any information that could be overly useful."

"That's fine, though, right? We can't have them knowing all our cards. And they certainly won't let us know all of theirs. We've got to be careful." Hitomi put her arm around Eri's shoulder. "On a side note, we should find someplace to eat. I worked up quite the appetite while waiting for you."

"Please don't tell me that you got into another fight." Eri narrowed her eyes at Hitomi, and the cat projected the slight irritation and concern in her voice with accuracy. "Especially not here. What will we do if you accidentally beat up someone who we need as an ally?"

Hitomi shrugged. "Do I look like I've been in a fight?" she said. "Nah, it just got really boring out here, and I started thinking about food."

Eri stared down Hitomi, trying to find a trace of a lie in her words. She saw nothing. "Fine I suppose. By the way, Hitomi-chan, your roots are starting to come in. You should probably dye your hair again sometime soon."

"Eh, really?" Hitomi glanced into a nearby shop window, frowning at the pale blond strands starting to contrast against the rest of her short black hair. "Fine, I'll pick up some dye and we can take care of it later. But food comes first."

Eri looked up and down the street before answering. "That's perfectly fine, but how do you expect to get anywhere without Urumana-san?" The guide was nowhere to be seen. Hitomi flinched slightly. "Where is he anyway?"

"I don't know that asshole ran off saying he had agreed to show someone else around," Hitomi answered. "What kind of dumbass takes on a job like this and then takes on another escort job? Fuck that guy! If it weren't for the fact that he's the only one that took on our case I would've beaten the shit out of him for trying to run off on us!"

Eri let out another soundless sigh. "I suppose we'll be able to find someplace to eat on our own. And I at least remember the way once we get to the subway," she said. "But I'm proud of you for not starting a scene over it, Hitomi-chan. You've grown at least a little."

"Nee-chan, I know that was meant to be a compliment, but that was almost cruel."

"Ruyaki would have been proud of you, too," Eri said softly. The smile dropped from Hitomi's face in an instant.

The two fell into silence as they walked away from HOMRA.

* * *

"Nagana, report on the situation."

"Yes Ma'am. There are the members of HOMRA, two women, a Strain, and the Black Dog, Yatogami Kuroh, whom have all been marked as potential targets. They were all noted to last be seen in this city, although the Strain and Yatogami haven't been seen since the incident at Ashinaka Gakuen."

"Well that's troublesome. Why don't we just ignore them?"

"Please try to take your job more seriously, Tarashi-kun."

"Please try not to be such a hard-ass, Fukune-san."

For the subordinates on the scene, watching their higher-ups argue like this was an exasperating but common occurrence.

Nagana, who often worked on missions with the two, realized long ago that intervention was necessary to get anything done. "Sir, ma'am, what exactly is the course of action we'll be taking?" he asked. Tarashi and Fukune's argument was dispersed before it even started.

Fukune cleared her throat. "Unlike Tarashi-kun's unreasonable suggestion, we really should put the most effort into locating Yatogami. He is the one that is the one best suited to our goals. The members of HOMRA will take time. We'll need to get close before even trying anything."

"And if we track down the Black Dog, the Strain will follow," Tarashi continued. Fukune seemed slightly annoyed by the interruption but didn't disagree. "Even though it's a pain, the Strain definitely is the second most useful out of that bunch. So we look for the Dog and send someone to play nice with the gangsters to get on their good side. What do we even know about the women, anyways?"

"They're being tracked, although we don't know much about their intentions other than they're searching for someone," Nagana reported. "We don't even know who it is they're looking for but it seems as if they've made contact with HOMRA. If we can determine their cause—"

"Then we can assist them to gain their favor. Damn, more work…"

"They may be easier to convince than HOMRA, though," Fukune considered. "The person we send to HOMRA should be able to discover what they're up to. They can also double as an envoy to get them on our side at the same time. That way we can spend minimal numbers on activities that don't involve searching for Yatogami."

"That's right. You get on it, Fukune-san…" Tarashi said. Nagana watched as a vein popped in Fukune's forehead.

"Tarashi-kun, your sense of humor is really terrible," the woman said, keeping a calm tone with only hints of malice mixing in. "As such, please refrain from attempting to make jokes during moments of business."

"You're mistaken, Fukune-san, I wasn't joking."

"Sir, ma'am, about that rumor," Nagana interrupted again. Both of his superiors looked back to him. "The one concerning a member of SCEPTER4. What are your thoughts on it?"

"Too much effort to think about," Tarashi commented, leaning back in his chair with a sigh.

"We would need more information before acting on it," Fukune said more seriously. "And even then, it would be a difficult and dangerous risk. It's definitely something we'll have to wait on. Let it go for now. We can look into it after we solve our current problems."

"Understood, Ma'am," Nagana said. "Would you like to distribute assignments?"

Fukune shook her head. "You should know by now that isn't my area of expertise. Leave that sort of thing to Tarashi-kun."

At the sound of his name, Tarashi sat back up. The look on his face had switched from his usual lazy look only the tiniest amount. Nagana was certain he saw something dangerous in that change, but couldn't say just what.

"Now… Which one of you hard workers is best suited to the job…?"

* * *

Since I'm really bad at actually getting off my ass and doing what I said I'd do, I've decided to write this instead.

To be perfectly clear, this is a story that started as a whim and will be comprised of whims.

I wanted to write a [K] story. I wanted to make up some characters. I wanted to answer some questions that I felt like the anime missed. I wanted to run around and write without planning out every fine detail. In short, I wanted to do a lot of things with a story that I usually don't do.

There are plans for this story. I'm just choosing to write it out in a way that I think lets the characters act a bit more naturally. They don't _have_ to do anything because I as an author thinks it needs to happen. It's really just an experiment for me as an author. I feel like maybe posting it and having people get invested in it will make it more enjoyable to keep up with. Maybe inspire me to go back to some of my older projects and finally finish them.

I will follow canon as best as possible. For this to work, there will be OCs. Lots of them. I hope to incorporate as many of the characters as possible. Whatever I write will probably be completely cancelled out by the second season of the anime when it comes out.

But for now I hope this story is something everyone can enjoy. If all goes well, updates should be weekly.

* * *

**To be Continued**


	2. Chapter Two: Remains II

**Reconstruction**

By: Aviantei

Chapter Two

Remains II

* * *

After a long walk that took far too much time than could be considered reasonable, the duo of Hitomi and Eri made its way into the main part of the city by pure luck. While Hitomi was content to simply wander until they found a suitable place to eat, Eri had no such patience and insisted they asked for directions. This job fell to Hitomi.

"But if it's your idea to do it, why don't you ask?"

"Because you know very well I don't like speaking in front of others. It looks too suspicious."

While Eri had considered different options before, she had never found a good way to use the plush in front of others without arousing attention. Carrying the toy around was simple enough to get away with, but making it talk in front of others was out of the question. She had almost used ventriloquism as an excuse, because it was close enough to the truth, but that was too easy to be exposed as a lie. It was better to play it safe and not speak at all.

Meaning that the less polite Hitomi was left to the job of asking for directions. There were a number of failed attempts on the younger girl's part, but they were able to finally encounter someone who didn't run off at Hitomi's punk-esque looks or attitude. After that it was smooth sailing to a street that hosted a large number of restaurants to choose from.

"Man that was brutal…" Hitomi muttered under her breath. "Nee-san, do you gotta keep making me do things like that? Even when you're mute you're a better speaker than I am." Eri glanced around the crowded street.

"You need to work on your social skills, Hitomi-chan," she said. With this many people around, it would be difficult for anyone to even notice it was her talking. "It's important in general and for what we're doing. Ruyaki said he wished you would get along with people better…" Eri frowned, and sadness was evident in the voice coming from the cat.

Hitomi sighed and looked away. "Yeah, yeah, I know…" Her voice was aloof but her expression wasn't. "I guess I just need to try more, don't I? Everything that's gone wrong has been because I didn't try hard enough, right?"

"Hitomi, you know that's not true." Eri was frowning at her sister, a tiny glint of anger in her eyes. "No one is at fault here, especially not you."

"Well if no one's at fault, then what happened to Ruyaki? Are you telling me that it just happened for no reason? If that's the case, then what are we even doing this for?!" Hitomi turned to Eri, demanding an explanation. A few people stopped in the street to look at them.

Not wanting to be found out Eri only reached out her cat's paw to deliver a light hit to Hitomi's face. She then lowered the plush to where she pushed it into the other girl's stomach. Looking up at Hitomi with worried eyes, she willed her words to get through. _You were hungry, right?_

Hitomi looked down at the older girl and sighed. "Yeah, yeah," she drawled, the tension draining from her shoulder. "I really don't give a damn what we eat. Just pick wherever, Nee-chan."

Eri looked around with a finger poised in the air. She was observing the crowd's behavior almost as much as her restaurant options. When she was satisfied that they were no longer being looked at, Eri pointed to one of the many signs. Hitomi followed the finger's guidance. "Ramen? Sure, that works. They might have private booths, too."

Eri nodded, smiling. Hitomi had followed her train of thought perfectly. Having a booth to themselves would make discussing things easier. The duo walked towards the shop's entrance, and Hitomi lifted up the curtain over the doorway.

A figure exited the building at the same time she was about to enter, and the two collided. Eri grabbed onto Hitomi's shoulder to steady her. The other figure stumbled before running off down the street, shouting something that sounded like "Excuse me! Sorry!"

Hitomi growled. "Fucker!" she cursed, even though the figure was already lost in the crowd. Eri tugged on her arm, and Hitomi sighed. "I know, I know, we need to relax. Some assholes just have no manners." Flipping a middle finger in the direction her "assailant" had disappeared in, Hitomi shrugged and walked into the shop.

It was a small but standard place, with the menu above the counter. A few tables were along the opposite walls, with a single private section on the left-hand wall. Eri smiled at a reluctant Hitomi and gave her a light push towards the counter where the chef stood.

"Um, excuse me… is the private booth free?"

"Sure thing, onee-san," the chef asked without looking up. "If you give me a minute to clean this up I can come back and take your order." He gestured to the half-eaten remains of a ramen bowl sitting on the counter.

"That's fine but we'll just take two orders of shio ramen if that'll save you the trouble."

"Coming right up."

Hitomi held in her sigh until she and Eri were seated and the booth's door was securely shut. "I can't keep doing this, Nee-san, I just can't," she complained, sinking back into the cushions. "People are impossible to talk to."

Eri smoothed out her skirt before returning her hands to the cat plush sitting on the table. "That's only true because you don't try. If you talked to them more things would be a lot easier for you," she said.

"That's easy for you to say. You never have to talk to people. At least not properly."

Eri frowned. "Just because I can't speak to people doesn't mean I can't talk to them," she countered. "You have to remember hardly anyone ever knows sign language. It's very nerve wracking not even knowing if the person I'm trying to communicate with will understand me when I try to get what I'm feeling across. Trying to talk to Kusanagi-san was a nightmare."

"Hey what do you think I made this for?" Hitomi asked, tapping the stuffed cat's head with her knuckle. "I know you don't like using it in front of others, but I think if you got over it, people wouldn't care as much as you seem to think they would."

"…I suppose. But I'll need to be more comfortable with myself first." Eri hugged the toy to her chest. "Though I am grateful that you made Mie-chan for me. He's really helpful. But enough about our problems. We need to discuss the matter at hand." The plush Mie-chan was returned to sitting on the table.

"Right-o." Hitomi put her elbow on the table and rested her chin in her palm. "So this 'Kusanagi-san,' was he the leader Urumana mentioned?"

Mie-chan let out a short humming noise in Eri's steed. "I honestly can't say for sure," Eri admitted. "If anything, he definitely seems like he's high up enough to agree to help us. Though it kind of bothers me that it's been a month since they released the bounty and they still have no idea where he is."

Hitomi nodded. "That started to bother me when you said it, too. Despite being a bunch of street punks, HOMRA has it together better than you'd think. They should have had him by now. So what's the fuckin' deal?"

"I wonder… Maybe if we get close enough to them we'll get them to tell us the whole story. All things considered, I really wouldn't trust some random woman who says they're out looking for someone who supposedly killed one of their members. Even the little girl in the bar caught on by just looking at me." The tone coming from Mie-chan was solemn. Hitomi looked down at the table, drawing circles with her free index finger.

"There's no way… he would really kill someone right…?" she asked quietly.

"Of course not!" Eri's voice almost echoed in the small space. "No matter what… he'd never! There's absolutely no way he could ever…" The anger in her expression dimmed down. If anything, she was now on the verge of tears. "_That's_ why we're doing this, Hitomi-chan. Because there's absolutely no way. And we need to find the reason."

Hitomi reached a hand out to place on Eri's shoulder. "You're right, Nee-san," she said, halfway forcing the smile now on her face. "We can get through this, just me and you. We'll find out the truth about all of this together. We'll find Nii-san."

* * *

If there had been a contest within HOMRA to see who was the most depressed by the loss of their king, Yata Misaki would have taken second place. While Anna had definitely taken his death the hardest, Misaki was close behind. Add on that he had been the one most affected by the death of Totsuka-san right before that, and the young man was nothing short of a mess.

Losing Totsuka had been hard enough on Misaki, particularly since the senior HOMRA member had died in his arms. Misaki still had nightmares about it and always woke up in a cold sweat as Totsuka-san's thumb left a streak of blood on his cheek.

The dream had only gotten worse after the conclusion of the incident on the school island. Sometimes it was the same old dream, sometimes it was Mikoto dying in his arms in Totsuka's place, and sometimes it was something he didn't even want to describe nor could ever remember properly once he woke up.

Unlike Anna, though, Misaki had done his best to carry on as best as he could. As far as everyone else in HOMRA was concerned, the Yatagarasu was the same as always, looking for trouble and begging that they go out and do something. And while he knew better than to ask Kusanagi-san for any sort of work, he still tried, because otherwise he was probably going to fall apart.

One thing he had at least been keeping up with was eating. In the past three weeks he had steadily built up a repertoire of running around the city, looking for a glimpse of _something_ to do. And whenever that failed (which it always seemed to do), Misaki would find himself stopping in at the usual noodle shop to ease his hunger.

He started to eat while the bowl was still steaming. If it were anyone else then the inside of his mouth would have been burned. His aura negated the effect. He almost wished it didn't.

It was getting to the point that the chef didn't even have to ask for his order. How much longer would it be until Misaki walked in at the same time as always and his order was already waiting for him? How much longer until he stopped thinking about what else to do to pass the time? How much longer until he was as good as he was before Mikoto-san had found him, just some kid on the streets with nothing to do?

Not that it could ever be exactly the same as it was before.

Misaki formed a fist around his chopsticks, threatening to break the thin wood. _That_ was the last thing he needed to think about. Trying to dismiss the thought, Misaki resumed the activity of consuming his noodles without choking on them. Halfway through, his watch chimed for his attention.

"Mm? Thish ish Yata," he answered, mouth full. Misaki swallowed before speaking again. "What do you need?"

"_Yata-chan, we've got work to do,"_ Kusanagi-san said on the other line. _"Everyone's meeting up at HOMRA in the next hour or so. It's important so don't be late."_

Misaki nearly cheered in excitement. He decided to save the shout for a later date. "You really mean it, Kusanagi-san?!" he asked. The chef gave him a sidelong look from inside the kitchen. Misaki lowered his voice. "So what's the job? Is it something big? Where'd it come from?"

Kusanagi laughed on the other side of the line. _"Calm down, Yata-chan. I'll explain everything when you get here. Would you mind letting some of them others know for me? I don't have the time to call everyone."_

Misaki stood up and started to dig in his pockets. "Sure thing, Kusanagi-san, I'll get right on it!" After some struggle, the skateboarder pulled out the necessary yen from his pockets and tossed the coins on the counter. He made sure all his belongings were gathered before heading towards the door in a run. "Thanks for the food, Oji-san!"

It would have been a smooth jump onto his skateboard if someone hadn't been walking into the store at the same time. Misaki stumbled, shouting an "Excuse me! Sorry!" over his shoulder. He would have given a more formal apology if he hadn't been so focused.

There was work to do. Finally, after weeks of doing nothing, HOMRA was back in action. It didn't matter what the job was, what they were doing, as long as it was something. For the first time in a while, Misaki grinned as he skated through the crowd. He really couldn't contain his excitement any longer.

"_Alright! No blood! No bone! No ash!_"

His shout felt as if it had pierced the sky.

* * *

Urumana Nezuto was often considered by others to be an idiot. Even his closest friends could say that the only good thing about him was his sense of direction. It didn't matter if he knew anything about the area he was in, he was able to find his way around to almost anywhere, or at least damn close. Which was why he could come into this city and play the role of an escort despite being there for less than two months.

It was really his only redeeming feature.

"Even so… how'd it end up like this?"

Despite their standing as lifetime residents, Hayatama Eri and Hitomi were utterly hopeless at navigation. He was unsure if that was because they truly lacked a sense of direction or just had no idea of how to get around in the more underground parts of town. In any event, Nezuto was certain they couldn't afford to wander around the city without him. So the fact that they had left the area surrounding the HOMRA bar in the short amount of time he was gone was concerning.

"I do have their contact information, so I could call them," he considered. "But if they left without trying to call me then that means they didn't want my help. But Hitomi-chan admitted straight up that they needed me to get around. Are they willing to get themselves lost?"

Nezuto would have normally searched for them, but if they didn't ask for his help, maybe it would be best if he didn't interfere. Sure, they needed him, but having them irritated would only make a terrible experience of the job. And that was something he wasn't willing to put up with.

His phone gave the sound for his email notification, and he pulled it out of his jacket pocket. While it wasn't from either of the women he expected, it was from someone equally important to him at the moment. Nezuto smiled, and let his sense of direction take him where he needed to go. After a few minutes, he found himself leaning against the fire escape in an alleyway.

"Couldn't you have picked a more subtle location?" Nezuto asked, looking up. "Honestly, this just screams 'suspicious'. I expected better of someone with your reputation." The figure sitting above him on the fire escape ignored the insult.

"You said you could help us," it said, distaste lacing the words. "I haven't seen too much of that happening. Just what exactly do you intend to do to actually keep your promise?" Nezuto only laughed softly.

"Easy, easy. I will help you in time. You can't blame me for trying to finish up a way easier job on the side, especially if it pays well. If I recall, you're the one who said you didn't have the money to pay me. I'm really only helping you because you've forced me to. My other clients usually are prepared."

The figure shifted enough to make the fire escape move. Nezuto just barely kept his balance. "You know we don't have much of a choice," the figure retorted.

"I know, I know." Nezuto waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "But you haven't been very specific. I understand you want me to help out with keeping your location and identity under wraps, but I think you two can handle that on your own. What exactly is it that you want of me?"

There was a moment of relative quiet, with only the noise from the main streets buzzing in the distance. "I would like to find someone, but that's not something I think you can help us with. Aside from that, there's certain information I would like to obtain."

Nezuto frowned. "That's not my area of expertise, sir. You should know that," he said. "Normally I'd be willing to try something out for you, except you can't afford it. I'm really pushing it as it is. Sorry, but you'll have to do without that particular service."

"I can pay." The response was a bit too hasty for Nezuto to believe.

"You're going to have to prove it," he said seriously. "No exceptions. I can give you all the time you need to get the necessary funds. But I need hard proof, and I will need it soon if you want me to be effective. Can you do that for me?"

Silence fell again, and that was all the answer that Nezuto needed. The tone in his prospective client's voice was just an additional factor. But he decided to give the other the benefit of the doubt. "Give me three days."

"I suppose I can do that," Nezuto allowed. "If there's any time you can get that proof to me sooner, it would probably be in your best interest. Surely someone like you can understand that. Time is money, after all. And, well, you don't have either of those really, so you can't afford to waste either of them."

The other person growled, almost too soft to be heard. Nezuto wondered if he was about to be attacked. That would be an interesting one to explain to the girls; how their guide had suddenly gotten mugged or some other similar lie. But nothing happened in that regard, and the escort remained unharmed.

"Understood," was the terse reply. The fire escape rattled and the other person in the alleyway disappeared without a trace. Nezuto breathed a sigh of relief and looked up to the crack of sky above him.

"Am I… pushing myself too hard?" he asked no one in particular. A wry chuckle escaped his lips. "I guess not. But really what else am I supposed to do?" Nezuto walked towards the street, exiting the alleyway in the opposite direction he had entered. There was nothing pressing for him to do, but if there was somewhere he needed to be, he'd get there.

"But really, no more charity work. I'm making myself feel sick."

* * *

Here we have the second part of the story, giving us some of Hitomi and Eri's intentions, introducing Yata, and indulging in a bit of mystery with Nezuto. It can seem like a lot, but when I look at the big picture, it really is just the beginning. I still have two pages of notes lying around not getting anywhere, and I should really fix that. If anything, this story is one worth working on.

There are times when I look at all the depressing things I write, then I start to wonder if something's wrong with me as an author. Not everything in this story will be depressing, it just happens to have a depressing starting point that will evolve around with the characters. And maybe that isn't such a bad thing, although it does remind me that I should try to write happier things sometimes.

Next chapter will have some HOMRA action, another mysterious character, and some focus on my personal favorite character, although you'll have to wait to see who it is. Please look forward to it.

Thanks to Plexi Pink for favoriting. May this story be worth the decision to do so.


	3. Chapter Three: Rejuvination

**Reconstruction**

By: Aviantei

Chapter Three: Rejuvenation

* * *

Before the designated hour was even up his bar was filled with HOMRA members, and Izumo knew there wasn't any point left in waiting. Everyone was greatly excited, talking amongst themselves. He hadn't really given out many details in contacting everyone, the proper words to say had escaped him. Usually, he would only have to convey Mikoto's intentions and that was it. Coming up with his own objective was difficult.

_What would Mikoto say?_

The conclusion could only be "not much."

Anna was the only member not at the same high, but then again she never really was. Once Eri had left the bar, the young girl had gone back to sitting in the same spot as always. Izumo couldn't say for sure, but it seemed that, even though Anna wasn't quite her old self yet, she was at least the tiniest bit away from the desolate state she had been in.

"Hey Kusanagi-san, are we gonna start soon?" Yata asked, grinning. The teenager was practically bouncing in excitement. Normally Izumo would have worried that Yata's energy would have damaged the bar in some way, but it was the most alive the younger male had seemed in weeks. "I think everyone's already here."

Izumo let out a short chuckle to cover up his nervousness. It was now or never. _These people trust me enough to be a leader so…_ "Sure thing Yata-chan," he said. For his next sentence, Izumo raised his voice. "Listen up everyone! The meeting will be starting shortly!"

There was a small flurry of movement to the tune of chairs scraping against the floor and conversations slowly being brought to a close. A few odd drinks were ordered and distributed quickly. In the end, Izumo had the entirety of HOMRA looking to him with expectant eyes.

"I've called you all here today because something important has come to my attention," he started. "Today a young woman by the name of Hayatama Eri stopped by, asking for assistance. Eri-chan is mute, and had other business to attend to, so I wasn't able to get as much information out of her as I would have liked. But reasons aside, she is looking for someone and has requested our help. I know you're all familiar with the person in question."

Izumo pulled his PDA out of his pocket, navigating through the menus until he found what he was looking for. When done, he placed the item on the counter, and the image of Totsuka's murderer projected itself for all to see. Some of the members exchanged whispers, and Yata distinctively stiffened.

"I know this may come as a shock to some of you," Izumo continued, "but I chose to agree with the request." The whispers grew to louder mutterings. "Now, now, everyone, calm down. Let me explain myself first."

"I bet you just agreed since she was pretty!" someone called out from the back. A light roll of laughter passed over the group without releasing much of the tension. Izumo sighed through a smile.

"While Eri-chan is most certainly pretty, that's not the only reason I had to agree." The bartender shifted his expression to be more serious. "We all know what happened three weeks ago. The main problem is that we really don't _know_ what _happened_. Mikoto died by the Blue King's sword. We weren't told his body's location, let alone any of the details.

"This had been bothering me on and off, but talking to Eri-chan made me really think about things. SCEPTER4 has made no effort to contact us whatsoever. Just because they seem to have stopped investigating doesn't mean that this 'Colorless King' has been stopped. For all we know, SCEPTER4 may have him as a prisoner or he could still be on the loose. We don't know for ourselves if the problem was ever even _solved_."

Izumo could feel himself getting frustrated and took a breath to relax. HOMRA waited in pure silence, questions dancing in their eyes as they waited for him to continue. When he had spoken in the past for their king, it was never like this.

_Did they always look at you like this Mikoto? Is this what it felt like to be on the other side of this gaze?_

"I'm not Mikoto," Izumo blurted without thinking. "I'm not certain that he'd agree. But I really do think that we deserve answers. I think that we should confirm the location of this boy for our own well-being. Mikoto wanted to find him, and so should we. As his vassals, we need to assure with our own hands that his goals were fulfilled." He pursed his lips before cracking a smile. "And you all know me. I can't stand leaving a pretty lady helpless."

The atmosphere had changed, although Izumo couldn't exactly say how. Part of him worried that he had said something that HOMRA didn't want to hear. Even if he was uncomfortable with the job, he still wanted to do well. His poor actions only reflected badly on his king after all.

"I agree with Kusanagi-san," Yata said. His head was hung low. The teenager swiped a hand across his face in a motion that everyone chose to pretend like they hadn't seen. When he looked up, Yata's eyes were filled with fire. "I don't care about this girl or whatever, but I wanna make sure the bastard who killed Totsuka-san is really dead. I'll kill him myself if I have to."

Several HOMRA members spoke their agreement. Izumo intervened before things went too far.

"I don't know if that will be necessary, everyone." The statement made all heads turn. "I can't say for certain, but I really don't feel like Eri-chan wants him dead. She really wasn't clear, but she knows who this guy is. If she needs to talk to him about something, we'll have to honor that."

Yata stood up at a speed that almost made the stool he was sitting on fall over. "Are you saying we have to let Totsuka-san's killer go free?!" he shouted. His fist made contact with the bar counter. "Hell no! I refuse! There's no way! If that's what you're saying Kusanagi-san then I—!"

"That's not what I'm saying at all!" Yata balked at Izumo's uncharacteristically loud tone. Izumo would need a smoke after this. "There's no way I'd ever agree to something like that, either. Once we talk to Eri-chan again we can come to a proper agreement concerning our terms. If there's something she wants, we need to get something out of it. Now please don't abuse the bar, Yata-chan."

Yata pulled his hand away from the countertop to pull his hat slightly over his eyes, muttering "Sorry…"

"Everyone, I know you all trust me enough to lead you, but I can't go and make decisions like that on my own. If you're all okay with picking up this search again, then I will get into contact with Eri-chan again to discuss specific terms. I won't make any major agreements without satisfying as many of you as I can. If not, I'll call the whole thing off right now."

Izumo tensed up without meaning to. It was quiet as a graveyard in the bar. No one seemed to want to be the first to answer. Even Yata seemed to be thinking the situation over. Taking a chance, Izumo pressed on.

"If none of you are objecting I assume we're in agreement?" he tried. Nothing was said to contradict him. "I know many of you were not prepared for this, so you're dismissed until you can clear up any other obligations. But for those of you who are free, I'd like to start as soon as possible. It's very likely that our target has left the city. However, that doesn't mean we can be any less on the lookout.

"I'd like you all to break into teams to search en masse. I'd also like others to ask around—we have other pictures of the target, use those so people don't think we're looking for the same guy. Look into every lead possible. I'll talk to Eri-chan again and see if I can get into contact with SCEPTER4."

"_Yes sir!_" The resounding shout was almost deafening. "_No blood! No bone! No ash!_"

Distracted by the commotion, Izumo again missed seeing Anna until she was right in front of him. He smiled at the girl. "You want to try and find him?" She nodded. "I'll dig up the maps to make it easier on you, okay?"

Anna struggled to take a seat at the bar. She was abruptly lifted up and placed on the stool by Yata. The two male members of HOMRA looked at each other for a moment. "You're pretty good at this, Kusanagi-san," Yata said. The next second he was rolling towards the door on his skateboard.

"Thanks Yata-chan... Now take your damn skateboard outside!"

* * *

If he was to be asked how he was feeling, the boy wouldn't have been able to answer properly. Everything that was bothering him was all there at once, nothing more prominent than the other. Every uncomfortable feeling was set to an equal magnitude, so to pick one out to even begin to describe his situation would be impossible.

In short, the best answer would be "not well." Alternatively, "terrible" was also an accurate answer.

But that was never the response they wanted to hear. Every time they asked that question, it seemed as if they expected positive results. And every time he answered honestly they were disappointed, like there was no way he couldn't be feeling good after what they did to him.

His name was Yanamo Anso. He was thirteen years old. He was supposed to be graduating elementary school in the near future. He was supposed to be looking into his middle school of choice. He was supposed to be wondering if any girls would be giving him chocolate for Valentine's Day (whether it was confession or friendship chocolate was irrelevant).

He was not supposed to be here. He was not supposed to be clueless as to where he really was. He was not supposed to be cold, starving, and in pain every second of the day. He was not supposed to be frowned upon for not feeling well. He was not supposed to be shoved into a dark room most of the time and blinded whenever he actually saw the faintest amounts of light.

The experiments were definitely the worst. Anso wasn't certain to what was actually being done to him, but he could tell that they were experiments from the way the others talked. They used all sorts of words like "subject" and "testing" and "hypothesized" that had seemed to have lost their rational meaning outside of a science classroom.

The "scientists" never seemed to mind if he talked to them, even when they weren't asking him questions. And he certainly had things he wanted to say. The lump that formed in his throat every time Anso tried to speak was what was truly preventing him from learning anything. The lump only dispersed when he was screaming in some haze of pain, and that honestly didn't count.

"Hey."

He must have dosed off into some dream. No one ever spoke to him. There was no one to speak to him. The room where he stayed had no conceivable way of even knowing if someone else was around unless the door had been opened. And since that wasn't the case, there was no way this was real.

"Hey, you."

Anso was almost wary of being in a dream. He usually only ended up having nightmares that were so close to reality that they probably could not even be dreams and he wouldn't know the difference. It was one of the main reasons why he was so unsure of the exact amount of time he had been here.

"Excuse me. I can see you. Will you please answer me?"

Anso opened his eyes and was unable to see for a completely different reason than the usual dark state his room was in. That being the case, it took a few minutes to recover from the beam of light that hit him in the face. Once he did, Anso found that there was a small hole in one of his walls that hadn't been there before.

"…what?" he whispered.

"You are awake. I'm so glad I found someone," the voice addressing him said. It was definitely a girl's voice. "It was hard work getting through this wall."

Regaining his senses, Anso crawled across the floor to where the light was coming from. His eyes still stung and filled up with spots when he tried to look at it. That passed after another few minutes, and he was able to make out a singular blue eye staring at him.

"Um… Who exactly are you?" Anso asked, not knowing what to expect. If this was just a dream, he wanted to stay in it. It was pleasant, unlike the others. He remembered that it was rude to ask for someone's name without giving his first. "My name is Anso…"

Saying the words was ridiculous in a no logic place like this, but it almost made the encounter feel normal.

"It's nice to meet you Anso!" the voice chirped. Definitely a young girl at that. "It's not my real name, but you can call me Hisa!"

* * *

By normal standards, being stuck on desk duty was boring. To Fushimi Saruhiko's standards, being stuck on desk duty was the equivalent of being stranded in the middle of nothing, in a pure white that extended for miles and never changed so you had to try and gouge your own eyes out for the sake of having something to watch. To add insult to injury, he had been the one to volunteer for the desk job in the first place.

It wasn't as if he was a masochist for such things. That sort of statement was so far from the truth that it was laughable. What he was, however, was someone who didn't enjoy the prospect of exerting himself in even minimal amounts. Unless it was for the sake of his own personal interests, he didn't want anything to do with actively assisting SCEPTER4's agenda.

But that sure as hell didn't mean that Saruhiko _liked_ his desk job.

It was really a stupid job if anything. While normal people didn't understand all the interesting tidbits that went into the running of SCEPTER4, they relied on the organization. Sometimes Saruhiko had to simply observe the city on his own, others he actually had to talk to people who contributed information and complaints to the organization.

Days when he was assigned to deal with the latter of the two were days he almost missed being in HOMRA. Almost.

Saruhiko had left his last affiliation mainly because he had been sick and tired of what they did. If he were to be perfectly honest (and he usually was, although it was a twisted, nasty definition of "honest"), he was starting to get to the point that he was getting sick and tired of SCEPTER 4 as well. Aside from the fact that there really was nowhere else for him to go, he might have left already.

Being nothing was just barely worse than this. And that just barely counted for a whole lot in Saruhiko's mind.

If anything, the saving grace of today was that he hadn't been assigned to phone duty. While staring down screens and worsening his already damaged eyesight looking for things that were never really there wasn't necessarily good, it beat out having to listen to civilians complain in his ear for hours on end.

Why they even thought he was a good choice for that sort of work anyway was beyond him.

Maybe at one point it had been somewhat interesting. After all, the city had once held so much more to it. Kings proclaimed their goals, and their clansmen went out to achieve them. But after the Ashinaka Gakuen incident, the number of active Kings had dwindled to the point that the streets were as good as dead.

How long would it be until new Kings were crowned? How long until their clans were formed, their doors opened, and their members running wild? Saruhiko couldn't say he was looking forward to others obtaining such a useless status, but the other results were perks he couldn't ignore.

_I really wish that we knew all the rules for this. More of the selfish urges of kings who pay no mind to us, who think we don't need to know their secrets._ These were his feelings that had been growing long before he had left HOMRA. Just thinking about it made him feel irritated.

Saruhiko scratched at a certain place right above his left collarbone. It had always been a bad habit, one he considered as such but never had really taken the means to break. Now it was almost comical, considering what he had always been trying to scratch at was no longer there. It had never been the burn scars, but the remains of a mark that had peeked out between them.

That mark had disappeared along with everyone else's. The only things Saruhiko had left to connect him to HOMRA were the aura and some memories he didn't even want. Trying to get rid of something that wasn't even there was pointless.

But it had never been the scars.

He returned his hand to his side and resumed staring at the screens.

_Ah, I see Misaki's at it again,_ Saruhiko noted. It wasn't intentional, but he had noticed his old partner going around the city at most times. Today was no different. The lunch hour had long passed, and Misaki was surely desperately searching as always. Saruhiko didn't know what for, but he was certain the search had been a failure so far.

_But isn't this… a different route than usual? I was certain he already covered this route in the mornings._

Double checking with earlier footage, Saruhiko found that he was correct. Misaki was riding down the exact same street had been on earlier. However, there was something different in his old partner's posture. It was a subtle difference, but Saruhiko could still pick up on it, even after all these years.

What would be concerning to most only sent a lick of interest through Saruhiko's mind. Zooming in on Misaki's face, he could see the difference. Where there had once been near nothingness was now burning with determination. It was so familiar Saruhiko almost couldn't take it. It took a concentrated effort to _not_ get up and go challenge the other teenager to a fight.

Because for the first time since the death of the Red King, Misaki would be _worth it_.

But that wasn't all. Subconsciously, Saruhiko's eye picked up more familiar faces. After that, he could see other members of HOMRA that had joined after he had left. All of them were carrying themselves with something similar to Misaki's own determination. It made him reminisce and feel disgusted all at once.

It was serious. Whatever had caused it didn't matter because it meant there was _something_ to do. He wouldn't do anything for SCEPTER4 he didn't have to, but he would do it if it meant he could get in Misaki's way. Because that was what they did.

The members of HOMRA returned the life into the city, and Saruhiko grinned as he watched them.

* * *

One of the things I wanted to look at with this story would be Izumo's feelings about having to fill in Mikoto's place. While it's something that seems impossible, he has to try his best anyway. I hope to look more at these feelings as the story goes along. Anso and Hisa's own situation will be resolved, and I hope to look more at Saruhiko's feelings as well.

Next time we'll look at more of SCEPTER4, check up with Eri and Hitomi, as well as meet someone new to get things rolling. Please look forward to it~.


	4. Chapter Four: Remains III

**Reconstruction**

By: Aviantei

Chapter Four

Remains III

* * *

For the past three weeks, it had been necessary for Munakata Reisi to remind himself that he hadn't done anything wrong.

He had allowed Suoh Mikoto to kill the Colorless and Silver Kings. _(One king was evil, the other had sacrificed himself.)_ He had killed the Red King not long after. _(A second Kagutsu Crater Incident had been prevented.)_ He had left HOMRA without giving them any consequences for their actions at Ashinaka Gakuen. _(They were in mourning.)_

He hadn't killed the Colorless King himself. He hadn't stopped Suoh from exceeding his Weismann limit. He hadn't given HOMRA any of the answers they deserved. These things had yet to be justified.

Reisi hadn't done anything wrong, but hadn't done everything he could have. He also hadn't done anything _right_.

But he didn't have the time to think about those sorts of things. Just because the incident had concluded, that didn't mean that SCEPTER4 stopped working. If anything, there was more work to do than ever in the absence of three of the Kings. There would be disorganization, and the search for those who would become the next Kings.

It was also the first time that there was no Silver King. While the First King did not take much action in concern to the rest of the world, his loss was still obvious. Considering who had succeeded the last king that had died, the Blue and Gold Kings were both nervous about waiting for three new kings to take their place.

In addition to that, the Blue King was still responsible for maintaining SCEPTER4. They had a duty to the city and couldn't just suddenly stop performing it. Things were relatively calm on the surface, but certain reports were far more frequent than acceptable.

The most concerning issue were the disappearances. Abductions were common in cities this size, but the percentage had recently gone above the average. Furthermore, the pool of people being taken was much larger than the standard of people no one would miss. Missing persons cases were quickly shifted from the police into SCEPTER4 offices. The entire incident was beyond the scope of normal human trafficking.

In addition, localized blackouts had been occurring during the past two weeks. Reisi normally wouldn't have given the matter much thought—the city's power grid was in need of maintenance, nothing more. But when investigations proved otherwise, and even technicians could find nothing wrong with the buildings in question, it quickly become SCEPTER4's problem.

It was more than likely a Strain. That could be dealt with easily enough, but tracking it down had proven to be an issue. No one had seen anyone suspicious before the blackouts and there was no pattern. Like the abductions, Reisi had distributed small teams to look into the incident.

There were still no leads on either account.

It should have concerned Reisi more than it did, but he still wasn't up to putting that much effort into it just yet. There were plenty of standard actions they could take to investigate that would appease the organizations that backed SCEPTER4. It was all simple enough that Reisi had delegated most of the responsibilities to Awashima.

The Lieutenant had taken to the work with enthusiasm. She commanded with ease, and things were running just as smoothly as ever.

There was a knock on the door. "Awashima reporting," the familiar voice said.

"Come in," Reisi responded. The door opened to reveal the busty SCEPTER4 member. She walked into the room, standing at attention before his desk. "What is it? Did something come up in one of the investigations?"

"No, not yet," Awashima admitted. "But that's not what I'm here about." Reisi looked up from the puzzle he was barely focusing on, urging her to continue. "It may just be nothing, but Fushimi reported that HOMRA has started moving."

Shock marred Reisi's expression, but only for a second. He adjusted his glasses while he regained his composure. "Have they?" he asked. "They've made moves that haven't caused much trouble in the past. What exactly is their purpose?"

"I… I'm not certain, Captain," Awashima said. "They only seem to be scouting the city, but Fushimi seemed to find it important enough to report so…"

Reisi kept his face calm, but he still felt bothered. He hadn't expected HOMRA to take any action this soon after Suoh's death. Part of him had hoped that they wouldn't do anything at all, that he would never have to hear that name again.

_Then again, maybe this is what I deserve…_

"If Fushimi-kun found it important enough to actually report it," Reisi said, choosing his words carefully, "we should at least give it some consideration. Do you agree, Awashima-kun?"

The woman jumped slightly at her name. Reisi chose to ignore it. "Understood, sir. I'll get someone to look into the situation right away. Would you like me to assume resume responsibility for this as well?" Awashima waited expectantly. Reisi considered his options.

"No. I'll take care of things myself." Reisi stood up. "You can keep up with the responsibilities you already have. Besides, I have my own position to think of. I can't be slacking off any more than I have been."

"Captain, no one blames you," Awashima said as her superior walked towards the door. "Honestly, I can handle managing one more task. If you would like to rest some more it's okay." Reisi stopped but didn't look back. Just at the moment he was about to speak, Awashima's phone rang. "Um…"

"It's alright, Awashima-kun," Reisi said. "Answer the phone. If it concerns your investigations, you still have free reign to give any orders you wish. If you feel as if you absolutely need my guidance, don't hesitate to call. Let's work hard today."

"Y-yes Captain! Good luck to you!"

Her words fell on uninterested ears.

* * *

"Kusanagi-san wants to talk," Eri announced. The woman placed her phone back on the table. Hitomi looked across at her, mouth still full of the bite of noodles she was taking.

"Huh? What about?" Hitomi asked after swallowing.

"Well we weren't able to 'talk' much when I was there earlier," Eri said. She put her chopsticks together and placed them on the top of her empty bowl. "All Kusanagi-san really knows is who we're searching for. He doesn't really know any of the how or why. It's understandable that he would want to know that and discuss terms properly before putting forth the effort of his men like that."

Hitomi surveyed her bowl as if trying to determine the best way to empty it of its contents. "I don't like that idea," she said. "It makes it sound like if we say the wrong things then they'll call the whole thing off. Especially with you still keeping up the mute act with them. It'll be far too easy for your meaning to be taken the wrong way."

"Which is why you'll be doing the talking for me," Eri announced without hesitation. Hitomi nearly choked on the noodles she had tried to eat after speaking.

"Nee-san! You can't be serious!" The younger of the two coughed, still recovering. "There's no way I'd be able to explain everything to this Kusanagi guy properly. I can barely even think of all the questions he might ask to prepare myself. And even if you helped me with that, what if he asks me something I haven't prepared to answer? I'll freeze up and fuck everything up even more!"

"You can't think like that, Hitomi." Eri moved Mie-chan off the table to sit on her lap. "Besides," she said, forming signs with her fingers that matched her words as she spoke, "if you interpret for me we shouldn't have any real issues. I'll even keep a slow pace so you can take as long as you like. It'll be fine."

Hitomi gave her sister a long stare before sighing in defeat. "Are you certain they'll be okay with that?"

"Of course. Kusanagi-san's a nice person." Eri gave a pure smile that stayed on her lips while her words came out. "I'm quite certain he won't be offended even if you just look at me the whole time. It'll be exactly the same as when Ruyaki and I were giving you sign language lessons. And you picked that up so quickly, I'm certain we'll be absolutely fine." The woman accentuated the signed half of the conversation with a thumbs-up at the end.

Hitomi abruptly stood up, her chopsticks clattering as she dropped them into the now second empty bowl on the table. "Well let's go then!" she declared. Eri looked up at her questioningly. "If we don't go now I just know I'll lose my momentum! So let's go, okay?!"

Eri stood up, pulling a small change purse from her vest pocket. Mie-chan was tucked under her elbow. "Your real enthusiasm is showing, Hitomi," she commented. Eri placed the yen bills on the table, tucking the purse back away when she was done. "But I'm alright with heading back to HOMRA."

"What time does Kusanagi even want to meet up anyway?" Hitomi asked.

"His text said 'whenever you're free,'" Eri quoted. "But he's so polite that it probably really means 'as soon as possible."

"That's just what I need." Hitomi slid open the compartment's door. "Thanks for the food," she called to the chef, folding her arms behind her head. Eri trailed behind as they exited the ramen shop. The two walked down the street, until Hitomi stopped right in her tracks. "Nee-san, which way was the bar again?"

The brunette looked back in the middle of the crowd for a response, but Eri was looking away, already committed to public silence.

* * *

_This sucks._

_This sucks, this sucks, this sucks, this sucks, this sucks…_

It was hard to breathe. His lungs were going to somehow implode from the lack of air he just couldn't get ahold of. His heart felt the same. Desperately, he put his hands to his chest, hoping that would make the pain disperse.

_No. You've gotta keep calm. Relax. Remember what Masaka-san said. Breathe. Even if it's hard, just breathe. Don't be afraid of it. No fear. No fear, no fear no fear—_

But that was impossible. Sparks jumped off his body. Newa Konde backed away from the metal railing he had been thoughtlessly leaning against. Not able to go anywhere else in his current state, Konde shuffled and collapsed into sitting in the middle of the roof.

He had discovered his power about three months ago.

Konde had never been good with talking to others. Every time he tried, it was a borderline nervous breakdown. All the way through middle school, he had never made any friends. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to get a job, even with the proper education, Konde opted not to attend high school.

Concerned, his parents had chosen to spend the money intended for college on sending the boy to therapy.

The entire process had gone relatively well. While still often nervous, Konde was able to at least function on an acceptable level in most situations. Two years later than most with only the merit of graduating middle school to their name, he had obtained a minimum wage fast food job. Aware of his condition, the managers even had Konde assigned to the kitchens during most of his shifts.

But one day, a trade in shifts and an inconvenient illness of one of his coworkers had left them short staffed. Until someone else could be called in, Konde was assigned to the front register. Not even an hour later, _she_ walked in.

It happened all at once—

Unsuspecting, Konde asked the girl for her order.

Instead of providing a rational response, she grabbed onto his hands, almost pulling him across the counter when she straightened.

She said she recognized him from the therapist's office.

Konde was forced to admit that he didn't recognize her at all.

She said her name was Meiri, but he could call her Mei.

_Mei, Mei, Mei, Mei—_

And that was that. Konde had held himself together, but was still told to go on break. Mei was there the next time he was working the grills and waited until he was off the clock to talk to him, even though Konde's shift ran late. She was there every day he worked, for a week, a month, a year, then two. He walked her home and they talked about whatever was on their minds.

Somewhere in the middle of talking, they started dating.

The years passed. Mei graduated high school and enrolled in the university in the next city over so they could move in together. She studied in the restaurant when Konde worked. He didn't know what else he would do. The time flew by like it was nothing.

Mei was going to graduate in March. Konde had decided to propose to her. They went on a date at the end of November to shop for their families' Christmas presents. He bought the ring while she wasn't looking. Not wanting to wait, he decided to do it at that moment, even though they were in the middle of the street. Half the words were out of Konde's mouth before a nearby electronic store's window display exploded.

That entire shopping district had its power cut off. No one could figure out what happened. It was a mystery, an accident. Konde resolved the completion of his proposal would be the very first thing he'd do when he went to visit Mei in the hospital.

Except only her family was allowed to visit. Konde thought he was close enough but didn't argue. A nurse told him that it would probably only be a few days before her parents changed their minds. He doubted it. Mei's mother had never liked him much anyways. It would have to wait.

And then he almost blew up his alarm clock, and Konde knew that there was no way he could visit Mei in the hospital now. Not if technology was just going to blow up in his face. Then it occurred to him that maybe Mei's accident wasn't an accident.

That maybe it had been his fault.

Everything got worse from there.

He started panicking again, much like his chronic nervousness. Except now there was electricity involved. He started avoiding technology, which was hard in a city like Shizume. He could leave, _should_ leave, but all the ways out of the city involved the trains or vehicles. Even the most standard _bike_ had technology in the form of trackers in case they were stolen. Walking to a survivable living area was impossible. He couldn't even buy supplies without going into a store.

As long as he wasn't too close to any specific piece of technology, Konde only caused blackouts when he discharged. So while there hadn't been any other incidents like with Mei, the amount of times his power set off was something he wasn't comfortable with.

He couldn't really talk to many people without being near technology, and his cell phone had been fried long ago. There was no way for him to talk to Mei without blowing someone else up. The guilt and isolation both persisted for months.

Konde felt like he was going to regress.

"Looks like you're about to blow again, Sparky."

Konde scowled, not turning around to face her. Out of all the people who had claimed that all they wanted to help him, Minenai was the one whom he actively hated.

The woman wasn't having any of that. "So rude, Sparky." The sound of her clicking heels as she walked in front of him mixed in with her voice. Minenai tossed an end of the dark blue scarf she was wearing over her shoulder. She had a pretty face, but the short chopped locks colored a pale green weren't to Konde's liking. "We're just trying to help you."

Konde's chest hurt more, so he didn't move. Moving would only make it worse. "If anyone out of you bunch of freaks is trying to help me, it isn't you," he retorted. It was a relief that the words still came out. "All you want to do is antagonize me into blowing up city blocks."

Minenai sighed and squatted down in front of the young man. He could almost see up her too tight skirt but wasn't interested. She poked his forehead with a ring bearing finger. The piece of jewelry was black, but the sunlight still reflected off of it. "Geeze, come on, you little twerp," she said, pushing his head back and forth. "I'm trying to get you to accept your power. It's cause you're treating it so harshly that it keeps blowing up on you like this."

"Go away," Konde snapped. He didn't want to accept something that had hurt Mei. He wanted it gone. "And I don't have the patience to deal with you either. So unless you want all your little gadgets to be broken, you should just give up on this mess. And I'm not a 'little twerp,' I'm twenty-three!" The last part was childish, a reflection of his frustration. A spark shot off him, singing the rooftop

Minenai whistled. "Wow, check you out." Minenai's hand moved from his forehead to scratch at the mark in front of her. "See this?" she asked, flicking ash at him "This is the sort of thing you can do when you put your mind to it. Since you're not acknowledging it consciously, it's acting off your subconscious." The woman smirked. "You gotta learn to control this or you'll never be able to see that girl of yours again."

Konde's anger shot through the roof. Minenai may not have been the only one to know about what had happened, but she was the only one that ever brought it up. He felt like he would puke, except it would be the intense tingling ripping out his pores. His anger only made the feeling worse.

"_Just shut up!" _

The force of his shout ripped through the air, and Konde discharged. He could feel where the electricity bounded off to and the top floors of the building losing their power in an instant. The rest of his pent up energy lashed out towards Minenai. When Konde opened his eyes, the woman was sprawled out on the adjacent roof top and parts of both roofs were missing.

He panicked.

_No, no no no no no—_

_Dammit!_

This would definitely cause an investigation. There was no way around it. And there was no time to check to see if Minenai was alright. He needed to get out of here, hopefully without letting anyone he see him long enough to track him down. He had been lucky so far, but nothing like this had ever happened.

Konde turned and ran from the second person he had hurt with his curse of a power.

* * *

There are times I feel genuinely feel bad for the things I make my characters go through. Konde is definitely one of them. I hope things get better for him in the end cause so far everything I have planned ends in things getting worse.

Man, I never expected to get this much of this story posted so soon let alone the support I've gotten. Thanks to Sleepyface and TheRoseShadow21 for your respective reviews, follows, and favorites. I hope you continue to join the rest of the story.

Speaking of the rest of the story I'm starting to run out of archived chapters to keep posting. Once I finish up another project of mine, I'll be working on this way more than I am now, so it shouldn't take too long for updates to come just as often as they have been lately. Besides, I'm getting real excited for some of the stuff I have planned. But first...

Next time is a chapter entirely devoted to the misadventures of Eri and Hitomi! Please look forward to it!


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